"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross."
-- Sinclair Lewis

Friday, February 26, 2016

Young Americans Are Sick Of DC Political Corruption

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Capitol Hill power-players Schumer & Ryan are NOT admired by young people

Frank Luntz is a well-known right-wing pollster, consultant and strategist. He's best known for his focus groups for Fox News and for winning PolitiFact's Lie of the Year Award in 2010 for making up all the disinformation Republicans were using in their fight against health care. Luntz isn't considered a reputable source anywhere-- except on Fox. I don't know who commissioned his new poll and report, The Attitudes and Priorities of the Snapchat Generation, but I bet they weren't thrilled with the results. Lo and behold-- young people are liberal! Lunt also labels then "refreshingly, resoundingly sunny about America’s future."His "Snapshot Generation" refers to Americans, aged 18 to 26. And if they seem "refreshingly, resoundingly sunny about America’s future" it's not likely that Luntz's right-wing clients will be when they read and digest his findings. Who is the political figure this cohort likes and respects most?

Rubio, a robotic, anti-Choice fanatic, warmongering neocon and a homophobic extremist-- homophobic in a way only ex-gays can be-- was always an old rich white man's vision for what would appeal to young people. Like Paul Ryan.

Another finding of Luntz's unlikely to give any of those old rich white men woodies was that among those extremely liberal young people "fully 87% are likely to vote in the coming Presidential election. The Obama youth turnout was not just because it was for Barack Obama. This election cycle has clearly captured the imagination of first- and second-time voters. In fact, two-thirds (65%) are 'extremely likely' to participate. Politicians, ignore young voters at your own peril. Because they sure as hell aren’t ignoring you."Nor is the next finding very Republican-friendly. "What profession do these young people respect most? Simply stated, those who serve, heal, and protect. Given a list of 16 professions, respondents by wide margins said they most respected nurses and doctors (49%), teachers (48%), and the military (45%)... At the very bottom were business leaders at 6%, elected officials (a nicer way to say politicians) at 4% and bankers dead last at 2%. Is there any surprise then that Bernie Sanders has come so far with a campaign aimed squarely at the banks, the politicians and the special interests? He’s hitting the same people despised by his core constituency-- and he’s doing it incredibly well. Young people respect people who get their scrubs, uniforms, and hands dirty-- not people who keep their expensive suits spotless."

The next finding shouldn't just be worrying for Republicans, but equally worrying for corrupt Democratic Party bosses like Schumer, Hoyer, Wasserman Schultz, the Clintons, Rahm Emanuel, that ilk. The question was "What does the Snapshot generation reject most?" And right on top is the one-world descriptor of almost all the big names in politics. "'Corruption' is Public Enemy No. 1 to young Americans. They think it’s rampant, from Wall Street to Washington, and this rejection of corruption underlies all of their public policy opinions."

Marin Cogan was once a congressional reporter for Politico. If you didn't understand Politico you;d think she knows something about politics. She doesn't. Her fatuous piece for New York yesterday, Is There A "Next Obama" On The Democratic Party Bench?, should have Democrats throwing up in their mouths. The utterly clueless Cogan purports to present New York readers with "ten young Democrats who, like Obama, have unusual ambition, an inspiring life story, a gift for public oratory, or some combination of the three... [T]hey just might be poised to break out eight years from now. They are the future of the party that styles itself the party of the future."Her first pick is, from a moron's-perch, "the bisexual congresswoman who grew up homeless." She's also talking about the horrifyingly corrupt Blue Dog, widely despised by her colleagues, who votes with the Republicans more than any Democrats but two, Kyrsten Sinema. Corgan alludes to her hideous voting record by an admiring mention that "she is known for actually working with Republicans." How has she voted with the GOP? Well she voted to freeze the pay of federal workers, routinely votes against Democratic budgets, favors unconstitutional domestic spying on American citizens, supports the Wall Street banksters in their deregulation bids and their attempts to gut Dodd-Frank (efforts that have netted her $972,071 in bribes that should have landed her in prison), voted to shred the Food Stamps program, votes for Big Oil subsidies and off-shore oil drilling, was one of only 4 far right-wing Democrats to vote to kill Elizabeth Warren's Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection an when only the 7 worst Democrats in Congress worked with the GOP to set up the Benghazi witch hunt against Hillary, the only woman among them was... yes, Kyrsten Sinema.Way down the list is Nevada progressive, Lucy Flores, who's running 4th in a 4-way congressional primary. Our expert on congressional matters, Marin, mentions that "[T]he Harry Reid protégée is running for Congress and actively campaigning for Bernie Sanders," which is true, but she left out that Reid is campaigning against her and trying to elect Ruben Kihuen instead. She then refers to Cedric Richmond as "the only remaining black member of Louisiana’s congressional delegation," as though to imply that there have at some point been more than one. Maybe in the Reconstruction era right after the Civil War... but not since.And, by the way, Cogan's entire list of young future Obamas are in their 40s and 50s. Better than most of her picks to wind up in the White House one day: L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, Wisconsin state Senator Chris Larson, and former Ohio Secretary of State Nina Turner.